Development Impact Group

Overview

Public Institutions have a huge impact on the nature of development and the lives of people across the world. The main goal of the Development Impact Group Public Institutions Program is to design, implement and disseminate a well-coordinated portfolio of impact evaluations that help us understand how public institutions work more effectively. The evidence from these impact evaluations aims to enhance the effectiveness of country operations across the Bank and to inform global evidence on the most effective, cost-effective, and scalable interventions and delivery modalities in the public sector. As a complement to this, the program also develops customized data and evidence on public administration through diagnostic reports, process evaluations, and just-in-time technical assistance.Main Themes

Global Datasets

The Worldwide Bureaucracy Indicators (WWBI) database: The Lab has created global data on the public service in terms of the WWBI. The WWBI presents over 300 indicators on the characteristics of public and private sector workforces, public sector wage bills, pay compression ratios and gender pay gaps.  

Global Survey of Public Servants: The GSPS presents the largest harmonized set of public servants survey data in the world with 29 countries and responses from over 1,000,000 public servants. By increasing the volume, quality, and coherence of survey data, the GSPS generates insights into the experiences, perceptions, and challenges faced by public officials. 

Global Reports 

Government Analytics Handbook: This handbook presents frontier evidence and practitioner insights on how governments can leverage data to strengthen public administration. From the use of payroll, customs, procurement, and other administrative data, to the methodology of survey administration, its content serves as a baseline for continued work on public administration reforms around the globe.

Country Reports  

• Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Public Sector Labor Market and Its Implications

• Estonia - Evaluating the Influence of Local Service Quality Monitoring on Citizens and Public Officials

• Estonia - State of the Public Service: Evidence from a Survey of Public Officials

• Ethiopia - Moving Further on Civil Service Reforms in Ethiopia: Findings and Implications from a Civil Service Survey and Qualitative Analysis

• Lithuania - Governance of the Service Delivery Chain for Youth Mental Health in Lithuania: Key Findings From a Public Sector Employee Survey

• Slovakia - Understanding the Productivity of Slovakia’s Local Governments

Partnerships 

The Bureaucracy Lab is an initiative jointly led by the World Bank’s Development Impact Group and Governance Global Practice (GGP) which seeks to promote the use of evidence and technology in public administration reform. The Bureaucracy Lab is an initiative that aims to transform the evidence base for public administration reform. By creating new datasets, diagnostic instruments, toolkits, and analytical reports, and undertaking impact evaluations on a variety of aspects of public sector employment and management, the Bureaucracy Lab works to enhance global knowledge on public administration. The Lab supports several World Bank operations and policy engagements through primary survey data collection, and the analysis of administrative data, on public sector workers and using these as the basis for impact evaluation. To learn more about the Bureaucracy Lab click here.